Kodak Kiosk prints from facebook and picasa

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If you haven't printed out your photos at a local kiosk in a while (like me), you may be surprised to find a Kodak one that is social-network friendly.  

I got a chance to test one out at the CES 2011 show using some facebook pictures.  You basically enter in your facebook login and it connects you to your facebook photos.  If you have a lot of albums and photos, be prepared to be at the Kiosk a while as you search through them.  I didn't want to spend a lot of time so I just picked ones that used to be my profile pictures and used one of their smart frames.

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It's almost not worth printing your own photos - $15 for 150 prints shipped

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The $15 includes shipping and handling, plus they have a guarantee that you will like the printouts - can't get that with your own inkjet prints at home.  Plus they will cost you more per print.

Pro's and advanced enthusiasts should still stick with pro labs to go with your profiled prints and calibrated cameras / monitors / displays.

When is unlimited, not unlimited? Turns out almost everywhere.

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Unlimited

adjective 

1. not limited; unrestricted; unconfined
2. boundless; infinite; vast
3. without any qualification, or exception 

Home unlimited internet access is limited.  Try uploading at maximum speeds for a while and you will find your access severely throttled.  I should know because I knew for a fact that Comcast did that, as I'm sure Time Warner did for a while.  What they do now is slow the internet down so its near unbearable for anything else after a while.

Cell phone data plans aren't unlimited, even if they were advertised as so.  Well at least now the carriers have done away with unlimited data plans and are starting to charge more reasonable fees for tiered plans.

And really with the comparatively slow speeds of our "high speed" internet access we can't compare with many other countries in speed or affordability so reach a relatively low cap every month in how many movies we can stream or pictures we can upload.

Ooma calling isn't unlimited.  At first the limit was 3,000 minutes per month, but has recently went up to 5,000 minutes per month.  In case you're wondering that comes out to about 2 weeks of straight talking.

My latest pickle has to do with my Pro Phanfare account with unlimited storage.  Turns out I've hit the limit not once, but twice so far this year.  The first time it was because I hit a 50 GB upload limit back in May while I was in Asia.  I'm sure that I wasn't the typical customer who only takes snapshots on vacation with their pocket cams (but hey, most of my shots in Asia this year was with my pocket camera).

At that time they told me they had just raised the limit to 100 GB upload which I just hit yesterday while uploading pictures from this past week's touristy romp around So. Cal with friends.

I fit the profile of 1% of their customers I'm told, and my current storage costs them about $600 per year not including any bandwidth usage since they use Amazon's S3 storage service.  Click here to see their rates.

My advice.  Read the fine print - there's always fine print.  They re-define what unlimited is, and typically state that no matter what, they can change what 'unlimited' means at any time without notice.

Panasonic releasing 3D camera lens for micro 4/3s!

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All I can say is wow!  This was totally unexpected and way cool!  I can't wait to try it out.  

"PANASONIC ANNOUNCES DEVELOPMENT OF WORLD'S FIRST* INTERCHANGEABLE 3D LENS FOR LUMIX G MICRO SYSTEM** 

SECAUCUS, NJ (July 27, 2010) – Continuing its record of 3D technology leadership, Panasonic today announced the development of the world's first* digital interchangeable twin-lens, making it possible to shoot 3D with an interchangeable lens system camera. As a new member of Panasonic's powerful lineup of interchangeable lenses as part of the LUMIX G Micro System**, the twin-lens will allow high-quality shooting in 3D. Panasonic plans to release this new lens for sale before the end of the year. 

"This year will be remembered as the 'First Year of 3D Era' and Panasonic has already taken the lead by launching 3D-capable VIERA™ televisions and Blu-ray™ 3D Disc Players," said Darin Pepple, Senior Product Manager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. "With Panasonic's development of a twin-lens capable of 3D shooting, the company is providing consumers with a way to capture their own 3D content, which they can then enjoy watching in the comforts of their own home. Panasonic is dedicated to evolving the 3D ecosystem, letting consumers create and display lifelike 3D images in their homes." 

Currently, 3D shooting with an interchangeable lens system camera is possible only by using panorama systems or by combining two lenses and two CCDs. However, these systems are not ideal and have difficulty capturing moving objects. Panasonic's new 3D lens for the LUMIX G Micro System features two optical systems installed within the diameter of the lens mount, creating stereo images from the left and right lenses that are then processed with a 3D image processing system. Thanks to Panasonic's advanced technologies in optical technology, image processing systems, and lens barrel design, the 3D lens will be compact in size. 

This new compact 3D-capable interchangeable lens will be easy to handle and allow instant 3D shooting, without distortion or time lag between left and right images – even when shooting moving objects."

The Art of (micro-)Stock Photography

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There is an interesting article posted by Pocket-Lint with some details into the current leader in micro-stock photography companies (iStockphoto) you might want to read.

I fall in the category of 'just messing around' if you look at my portfolio on iStock.  I have uploaded a total of 6 files since... well since they first started.  Those six files have only netted me $63 over the years, so figure a regular photograph that is well lit, composed, sharp and relevant equals about $10 USD.

 

View My Portfolio 

Say you want that new 'L' series Canon lens for $1500 - expect to upload 150 photographs to sell on iStockphoto.

I've recently started uploading to iStockphoto competitor Dreamstime.  They simply pay more royalties.  Over the same period of time that I've made $50 on iStockphoto, Dreamstime gave me nearly double for the same 6 photographs.

I've since uploaded a lot more, but mostly editorial pictures and just cashed a check just over $100 for the sales of those pictures.  ($100 is the minimum check payout).

Try Smugmug! You'll like it!

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I'm a big SmugMug fan.

FREE Trial SmugMug - The Ultimate in photo sharing

I've been using them since 2004, and while there have been a few (I can only remember 2 notable outages) they've been awesome!

They have consistently hosted my photos safely, added new features, and listened to feedback from all the customers over the years.

A lot of pro photographers I know use them.  Even if you're not a pro, you should definitely check them out.  And if you sign up, be sure to use my smugmug coupon code GhmySJ4dQcHVw to save both of us some cash.

Also, because they are so reliable, they also qualify as one of the THREE copies you need in order for your photos to exist.

Who needs color calibration?

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This might sound like a trick question, but the answer is almost everybody.

Everybody that cares about image quality including but not limited to:

 

  1. Graphics professionals
  2. Web professionals
  3. Video professionals
  4. Other design professionals
  5. Online shoppers
  6. Photographers
  7. Computer users
  8. TV viewers
  9. People that use their eyes

 

See what I mean by almost everybody?

Ok, so the professionals most of you would understand and expect it.  Imagine if you told your interior designer that you wanted that one wall to be fuscia, but ended up with hot pink?

Online shoppers, ever buy a jet black purse online only to find out that it was really a dark blue?

Casual photographers want to print out those family photos from vacation in the Bahamas but their prints look like they might have picked up malaria in Africa?

Now someone out there might say: Mike, I only shoot with B/W film, and plan to digitize my photographs, why would I need color calibration?

Color calibration includes the whole entire spectrum of colors, including the different shades of gray, darkness levels and contrast.

How do you get color calibrated?

Featured is the ColorMunki Photo - Monitor, Printer & Projector Profiler

Click here to find some devices you can use to get calibrated.